Abstract

In the Roman world, obesity was viewed as a moral and social disease that strikes tyrants and evil wealthy men. Fat men were generally considered evil and stupid. Treatment was a special diet consisting of low-calorie nutriment such as barley-bread and green vegetables; the intake of liquids and food was reduced. The patient was also encouraged to exercise and bathe several times a day. Patients sought help for esthetical reasons. Physicians on their part recognized that obesity was a serious disease that lowers life expectancy and that is harmful to procreation in both males and females. Obesity, in fact, was attributed to plethora, blood being transformed into fat instead of menstrual blood or semen. Both congenital factors and life styles were implicated in the early manifestations and evolution of the disease. Women, by nature wetter and colder than men, and confined to the house, were considered more prone to obesity, although men who drink and overeat were also considered at risk. Therefore, although obesity was part of the medical field of the time, like gout it kept its moral hue. Roman doctors did not weigh their patients, which impeded an objective approach to the problem